 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
Impediments to the
Advancement of Interfaith Agendas
..............For the past several months, I have had the privilege of serving as the Chairperson of our local interfaith community. As my term of office winds down, I find this a particularly opportune time to reflect on the experiences I've had during my tenure and share, as working hypotheses, many of the inferences and observations I've made. In this role, I've been asked to serve in one way or another, each of the following faiths: Muslim, Roman Catholic, United Methodist, Lutheran, Hindu, Buddhist, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormon), First Church of Christ—Scientist, United Church of Christ, Baha’i Faith, Episcopal, and the Mata Amritanandamayi . If I’ve unintentionally left anyone out, I apologize. There are some churches in our community that have opted out of the organization. Those include Baptist, Presbyterian and Jehovah’s Witness. I know the Presbyterians participate in other areas of the world, so I don’t think it’s a religious mindset that prevents them, but, rather, a local decision. The other non-participants, I’m told, have opted out, because they do not believe in the validity of any efforts at knowing and/or worshiping their Centering Influence(s) besides their own. There are many enriching spiritual bounties offered annually by the group, as a whole, or in subsets. Among these are: Holy Convergence (a religious faire with a four year tradition), Thanksgiving Eve, Martin Luther King Day, Good Friday, Chanukah, services at a Buddhist temple and an explanatory tour of a Hindu Temple. One thing I’ve noticed consistently at these celebrations is the thirst on the part of the rank and file who attend for more, more, more! Then, why isn’t the interfaith movement exploding with vibrancy? Certainly, the central mission is laudable: peace through understanding. I think there are a variety of reasons, presented in no particular order below: The first that comes to mind is that not all leaders of all faiths give their wholehearted endorsement of the interfaith concept to their members. In fact, many work very hard at limiting the extent to which their congregants are exposed to interfaith opportunities, whether social or religious. Why would this be? The possible objection(s) I’ve been able to identify are mostly proprietary in nature. Either the leadership is afraid their members will leave their flocks or that the congregants’ personal religious convictions may become eroded by comparing them with others. I personally believe the leaving risk is remote—and worth the risk, relative to the potential gain—but I also believe it’s a motivating factor. Some church (AKA faith community) leaders have their incomes contingent upon a robustly supportive flock and all of them have their positions at stake, directly or indirectly, based upon their superiors’ (whether individuals or boards) assessments of their performance. Sadly, the eventual erosion of intolerance for the views of others, which is at the root of wars and similar manifestations of ill-will, requires a deeper understanding of the faiths of others. It’s hard for someone to rale against alleged apostasy embedded in someone else’s faith from the pulpit, when their listeners have firsthand knowledge of how closely the faith in question resembles their own. All of the faiths above, for example, put love of one’s neighbors at the root of spiritual good standing. Another thing that all of the above faiths share are general religious values. This conclusion may be reached through varying sets of scriptures and/or epistles of one sort or another, but the inevitable result is that actions like murder, theft, adultery, and bearing false witness are not condoned by any—at least insofar as their church doctrines are concerned. So, why is it that the leaders of the various faiths in many instances tend to be less open to the concept of interfaith involvement than their rank and file members? ................Leaders of anything, this time we’re saying “of churches,” tend to be the most passionate or intense, all the way on the continuum to “fanatical,” members of their own groups. If I were a cardinal and wanted to be pope, for example, I would guess the inside track would be found by trying to locate ways to prove that I was more Catholic than any of my competitors. I’d be less tolerant of the notion of divorce, or women in the priesthood, or the interpretation of Sunday obligations, or whatever. I’d want to come across as the person who would rather roll back these sorts of changes (put the Mass back in Latin, or try to curb the newer, more folksy approach to Mass) than anyone else. That’s how you could end up with someone nicknamed “the Rottweiler” in charge. ................By the way, I’m not trying to pick on the Catholics. There’s much about their religion that I admire and embrace. It’s just one that I’m not currently practicing that I know a great deal about. In varying degrees, portions of what I have to say apply to all religions, not just in our Valley, but universally, I’m sure. This line of reasoning also merges to illustrate the second reason why interfaith activities do not flourish more than they do, to wit, the larger regional, national or international sponsoring institutions discourage it, often in terms of stated policy restrictions. Supporting interfaith work at the local level can mean bucking the tide with respect to the overall policy of the denomination’s governing body, which entails certain obvious risks. I consider those of our local leaders, who have professed on many occasions to be doing so in spite of overall church policy to the contrary, to be among our bravest and most valuable members. Another reason why our local leaders don’t spend more time and energy promoting interfaith events and activities is—in my experience—because they are simply overworked. I once heard that ministry and dentistry held the highest rates of depression and suicide of any careers. I can see why, although it’s a bit of a paradox. On the one hand, what could be more fulfilling than serving God (meant in the broadest possible sense)? On the other, it’s an often thankless, time consuming, bureaucratically entangled, frustrating predicament in which one sees much of the underbelly of the lives of one’s parishioners. Finally, I’ve also noticed something on the part of the various congregants that I think has a bearing. With respect to the religious communities that each of us attends most often, there is a certain sense of community. By attending church, not only is one’s spiritual life enhanced, but one’s social life, as well. People tend to look inward in choosing their social and religious activities. It’s a stretch and a bit of a sacrifice, oftentimes, to look outside one’s normal sphere of associations to celebrate a spiritual bounty in the context of less familiar faces, whose convictions may not exactly match our own. Put another way, it’s like following a favorite sports team “religiously” for decades (in my case, The Ohio State Buckeyes), then being invited to see the Cal Bears play the University of Pacific. I would know very few people in the stands and have a hard time finding reasons to cheer. I don’t fault the rank and file. It’s human nature and it’s not going to change. So what is the answer? I think it’s to work more at the grass roots level and less at the leadership level to bring about the necessary change. The change I have in mind is a greater understanding by those of all faiths and traditions to the beliefs of others--rather than using a guesstimate, often based on malicious propaganda, as is the case now. This in turn will help us to live in better harmony with our neighbors. In addtion, that harmony in its greatest glory will enable us to witness, first hand, the beauty of what lies within the hearts, minds, and pages of the beliefs and methods of worship that bind all good and well meaning spirits to God. * * * In writing this article, a number of topics have presented themselves for further reflection, perhaps for another issue of the Periodic Perspective. * * *
|
,..
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
Site Map | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
